Religious persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continues worldwide. In Pakistan, Blasphemy Laws are being used specially against Ahmadis to harass them. Millions of religious minority are under threat to be falsely implicated in any such case on the basis of personal enmity with a punishment from 3 years RI to death. This blog was created to update Pakistani visitors of www.thepersecution.org, access to which was blocked by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority without any reason.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

INDONESIANS are reeling from one of their country’s most awful incidents of religious violence in years. It happened on February 6th, in a village in Banten, the western end of Java, not far from Jakarta, a district where strictly Islamist parties poll well. Out of keeping with the more usual pattern of Muslim-versus-Christian attacks, this was a mob attack by Muslims against men who claimed to be their own fellows: members of a Islamic sect called the Ahmadiyah.

Three Ahmadis were killed and five seriously injured in a frenzy of violence: footage of the assault was deemed too graphic to be shown on Indonesian TV news, which tends to have a fairly high tolerance for the stuff. Instead the footage is circulating on the internet, if you have the stomach. Indonesians are asking what could have motivated religious people to commit such a barbaric act (“sadistic” is a word being bandied around)—and why the police were so feeble in their attempts to stop it.

Nerves have been frayed further by another spate of religious violence, first reported this morning. Elsewhere in Java a Muslim mob burned down three Christian churches, all the while calling for the death penalty to be brought against a Christian man whom they accused of blaspheming against Islam. They were apparently unsatisfied by the judgment of a court, which had already given him the harshest sentence available (five years in jail) for distributing leaflets that insulted Islam. This sort of mob violence is not rare enough.

But Sunday’s lynching was something on a different scale entirely. These murders were aimed at the sect itself. Ahmadiyah was established in India in 1889; modern Ahmadis believe that their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was a prophet and messiah. This, of course, contradicts orthodox strains of Islam, which all hold that Muhammad was the final prophet.

Non-Ahmadi Muslims have long regarded Ahmadiyah as an apostasy. Its adherents are a persecuted minority almost everywhere they are to be found: the Pakistani Taliban carried out an especially terrible massacre of Ahmadi worshippers in May 2010. There have been attacks on them before in Indonesia, perhaps three in the past decade, but nothing remotely as gruesome as what happened on Sunday. A local group of Ahmadis had gathered at the home of their leader and then refused to disperse, despite complaints made by their neighbours. A 1,500-strong mob then arrived at the house, dragged the people from inside their mosque and fell on them with machetes, knives and sticks.

The sheer savagery of the attack shocked the rest of the country. Many Indonesians also felt let down by the police, not for the first time. The local police had been aware of the threat posed to the Ahmadis, and indeed they asked them to leave, for their own safety. The Ahmadis had replied that is was the police’s job to guarantee their safety, according to the constitution.

The footage of the attack shows that the police’s attempts to stop the mob were half-hearted at best. To critics of Indonesia’s police force, their pitiful effort is further proof of a lack of direction and authority at the top. The president, Susilo Bambang Yudhyono, has dithered in his defence of Ahmadiyah, sometimes suggesting that he might sympathise with its persecutors. As one disappointed adviser to the government told me, yet again the state has proven itself to be weak and ineffective when it comes to upholding laws concerning the freedom of religion.

And all this in Interfaith Harmony Week, launched amid considerable pomp and ceremony at the Jakarta Convention Centre on the very same morning at the attacks. As my government interlocutor admitted, Indonesia still has a way to go to “walk the talk” one hears so often: of a peaceful and tolerant country of many faiths.

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Indonesian military backs religious persecution

Footage shot by the ABC shows Indonesian military and police officers meeting with Muslim clerics to plan persecution of an Islamic sect.

Official Blasphemy by Pakistani Authorities

Pakistani authorities removed Kalima and Names of Allah from Ahmadiyya Mosque in Lathianwala near Faisalabad, Punjab. Approximately 300 Policemen and Elite Force commandos raided Ahmadiyya houses on 10th August, 2009 to commit the shameless act of Official Blasphemy having “NO FEAR” of Allah, the Almighty.

Mob attack on Ahmadiyah Muslims in Umbulan Village, Indonesia

A Mob comprising of 1,500 religious fanatics, chanting slogans to destroy Ahmadiyah, attacked a house used by Ahmadiyah members for prayers in Umbulan Village, Cikeusik Sub district, Pandeglang District, Indonesia. About 20 Ahmadiyah followers were present in house when attackers started destroying the house, put various vehicles on fire. Three Ahmadis were brutally beaten to death after they were stripped while five sustained serious injuries. An Ahmadi who managed to save his life by showing his press card recorded this tragic incident.WARNING: This video contains some scenes of extreme violence, not fit for viewing by children or persons with weak hearts. Viewer discretion is strongly advised. ________________________